Horner hails 'fantastic' Spa 1-2

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was delighted after Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber finished one-two in the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, only the second time this year that has happened.

The result was especially sweet given the team's concerns with the Pirelli tyres [see separate story - click here]. It was also very welcome as it allowed Vettel and Red Bull to further strengthen their positions in the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships.

“A fantastic team result – a one-two in Spa and our first ever victory here, it's phenomenal for the team,” Horner reflected. “Sebastian made a good start, but Mark looked like he got the anti-stall and dropped down the order.

“Having damaged our tyres in qualifying, we had some concerns about them going into the race based on a lack of knowledge after all the wet running this weekend. So, we were conservative with the strategy opting to stop Mark on lap three and Sebastian a lap or so later. More than anything we wanted to see how the tyres were behaving. We put Mark onto the prime tyre at that point and we could see, fairly early on, that it was performing well.

“At the safety car we pitted Sebastian for another set of options, which worked out well for him. After a radio issue, Mark stayed out on the prime, which was still looking very strong at that point.

“Sebastian then got his head down and conserved the tyres when he needed to, pushed when he needed to and closed out a very satisfying victory – which was backed up by Mark who hunted down Fernando [Alonso] in the closing laps and passed him.

“It rounded off a great weekend for the team; it's a lot of points in both Championships and we have extended our lead in both the Drivers' and Constructors' at a circuit which we have not previously won at – so it's a fantastic day for Red Bull.”

“I'm very pleased to get this result after returning from the summer break,” added Renault's Cyril Dumont. “It's good for the team and also for Renault. I think some people were saying this circuit would not suit our car, but we demonstrated that it was not the case, so that's very satisfying.

“Mark did a really good job to recover from the start which was not too good, and it's great to see both drivers at the top today – it was good haul of points in the Team Championship.”